Family  Ties
by Neko-chan -Silvered Tongue
Summary: Edward Middleford has always been antagonistic towards Ciel, but the Phantomhive heir has never known the true reason for it.


_Title:_ Family Ties

_Author:_ Neko-chan

_Fandom:_ Kuroshitsuji (mangaverse)

_Rating: _T

_Pairing:_ Edward Middleford/Ciel Phantomhive

_Summary:_ Edward Middleford has always been antagonistic towards Ciel—but the Phantomhive heir has never known the true reason for it.

_Author's Note:_ …hee~ *twirls about in a pseudo-innocent sort of way* How could I resist after reading Chapter 52? 0;D Right now, this is just a simple and relatively short piece... but there's already potential for so much more; knowing me, there will probably be more stories with these two later on~~ *rubs hands gleefully* In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy!

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**Family Ties**

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Two days out at sea, and Ciel Phantomhive found himself as bored as he otherwise would have been while still at the manor; the Aurora Society still hadn't yet made a move, which meant that Ciel had very little to do except entertaining Lizzie and avoiding Aunt Francis' offers of teaching him fencing (the lessons of which, of course, would be an infinite number of times worse than anything that _Sebastian_ would have been able to come up with!). Still, though…

Less than a day in, and Ciel had already been forced to grit his teeth and attempt to smile charmingly at the other passengers when they offered up commentary and critique of the other families on board, the need to pretend to be intrigued by the cruel gossip regarding this person or that's latest scandal—the obsession with one another's personal lives that had left a foul taste in Ciel's mouth, one that lingered no matter how many glasses of cider he had downed at dinner.

The second day out, he had avoided meals completely in the hopes that he could thoroughly avoid the various and inanely droll intrigues that Society deigned to indulge in, hoping that the lie that he was feeling a bit under the weather from a bit of seasicknesses kept as many of the vultures away from him as possible.

Unfortunately, however, it didn't keep his eventual brother-in-law (current cousin and older brother who was more than capable of fulfilling the role of overprotective and jealous chaperon to an engaged little sister) at bay. Instead of happily playing the role of doting Big Brother to Lizzie, Edward—to Ciel's utter surprise—went to find Ciel instead.

"You know that Lizzie was asking after you at supper," Edward scolded with a dark scowl firmly placed upon his face; still, though, he increased Ciel's surprise by offering up a plate of food that he had obviously gathered together from the buffet table. Glancing at the older teen from the corner of his eyes, Ciel took the plate of food from his cousin (and promptly tried to squash the suspicion that Edward had managed to poison it while it had been in his possession). "If you really wanted to avoid all of the Society twats, you know that Mother and Father would have happily arranged for us to have a family dinner in our cabin."

Ciel shrugged in answer, gently poking at a slice of roast beef before taking a careful bite out of it. "True enough, I know. But I suppose that I've grown accustomed to solitude out at the Phantomhive manor; I think that I just needed a bit of time to myself to revitalize before once more joining everyone after feeling better."

Edward snorted at that and promptly stole the last slice of the meat for himself, chewing in irritation at it before swallowing roughly. "That's a lie," he accused the younger boy and—once again surprised by his cousin—Ciel's instinctive reaction was to blink and gape a bit stupidly up at Edward's irked expression. "You can use all of the excuses that you want, especially around Lizzie, but I'm fully aware that your choice to join us last-minute had nothing to do with the desire to relax with family. This was never a surprise for Lizzie. Instead, this is a business trip for you, isn't it?"

The Phantomhive heir's eyes flashed at that, and he set the plate upon the railing to turn and give Edward his full attention. "How _dare_ you, Edward. I find it rather insulting that you would insinuate such things—"

But Ciel didn't get very far before his cousin slashed a hand through the air, interrupting the cover story and the excuses that the boy had prepared for himself before ever stepping foot on board the Campania.

"Mother told me the truth about the Phantomhive family's tradition," the older boy murmured quietly, pitching his voice so that anyone who _might_ come walking by the two of them still wouldn't get the chance to overhear his words. "Mother told me how you're the Queen's Watchdog—how it's your duty alone to take care of England's dark, dirty secrets that no one is supposed to know about. Combine that knowledge with the fact that I _know_ you wouldn't ever take a holiday for yourself…" The pale teen shrugged, eyes unusually intense as he met Ciel's gaze. "You're here for business, and I want to help you, Cousin."

That particular offer…

It was one that Ciel never expected Edward to say. The other had always been antagonistic towards him, had always let his dislike for Ciel to be known—even before his parents' deaths. Easily riled up on the smallest word or the silliest action, the earliest memory that the dark-haired boy had of his older cousin was Edward pulling Lizzie away from Ciel, breaking their innocent embrace to push his little sister behind himself. He had glared darkly at the Phantomhive heir, and Ciel felt at a loss as to what he could have possibly done to make Edward hate him so.

The years had jaded Ciel since then, though, and Edward's blatant dislike for him didn't even faze him anymore. It had just become a fact of life and, besides, there were bigger fish than his cousin whose hatred for Ciel actually had the chance of putting the teen's life in danger. Compared to that…? Edward's feelings no longer even registered on the younger cousin's radar.

Still, though, one should always be unfailingly polite, even when refusing the proffered hand of others. Ciel's smile was slight, though his bow was impeccably done. "Thank you, but I'm not in need of any help. I'll manage on my own, Edward."

The words were murmured, the refusal done in such a way that not even Sebastian could nitpick at him over them—and, with that done, Ciel made to turn about so that he could head down to his cabin and the servants who were waiting for him. He didn't get very far, however, before Edward's hand snapped out to wrap strong fingers tightly over Ciel's much slimmer forearm.

"I want to help," the older boy repeated, not letting go even after Ciel gave a pointed look down at the hold that he knew would bruise within the next several hours. "Let me help you, Ciel."

"Why?" Ciel drawled in answer, tugging at his captured arm, now just trying to force Edward to relinquish him. If anything, though, that gesture made Edward's grip tighten even further; it didn't take much after that, just a light tug, and Ciel was stumbling towards the older boy.

Edward's answer came not in words:

His head descended and, mouth too-warm and lips slightly chapped from the sea wind, the Middleford heir stole a kiss from Ciel, angling his body so that anyone who might come their way wouldn't see the gesture of affection that would leave many sick with disgust—that emotion wasn't right, not with this, not with the way that Edward's tongue coaxed Ciel's lips to part so that the kiss might deepen.

Of course, Ciel just _had_ to respond in kind by biting him.

Yelping at the sudden sting of sharp pain, Edward pulled away to stare down at his dark-haired cousin with wide, surprised eyes. Ciel, on the other hand, smirked up at the elder. "Why?" he asked again, gaze dancing with feline smugness.

After all, he never counted anything unless it was a verbal answer—Sebastian, too, had learned that the hard way. (And, thus, Sebastian's private comparison in commenting that he was as contrary as a cat.) Still looking up into Edward's eyes, the Watchdog waited for his reply.

**End.**


End file.
